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AIA CONTRIBUTE TO FRC PRIORITIES MEETING 2018/19

The Association of International Accountants (AIA), the global body for professional accountants, on 6 February 2018 attended the Financial Reporting Council’s (FRC) Priorities Meeting 2018/19.

As a key stakeholder of the FRC and Recognised Qualifying Body (RQB) under the Companies Act 2006 AIA engages with the FRC to influence the direction of strategy in the upcoming period and put forward the views of its members.

The meeting outlined the FRC’s position for the upcoming strategy period and discussed the future of governance, stewardship, auditing and reporting.

Melanie McLaren, Executive Director Audit & Actuarial Regulation noted that the FRC has amended its mission and would be promoting the transparency and integrity of business, investor confidence and effective capital markets, sound business decisions and the wider public interest.

With regard to transparency Ms McLaren outlined that the FRC would respond to changing markets, technology and stakeholder expectations through thought leadership and may be required to implement reform to the UK’s auditing framework to meet expectations.

As a public body she stressed it was the FRC’s responsibility to enhance its transparency and accountability, citing work it had completed to safeguard against conflicts of interest.

Paul George, Executive Director, Corporate Governance and Reporting outlined how the FRC would seek to influence the future development of IFRS through their engagement with the International Accounting Standards Board, European Financial Reporting Advisory Group and other national standard setters. Mr George suggested that a high level consultation on the UK’s accounting framework would be introduced and the FRC would commit to an investigation on reforms to annual reports and accounts to ensure guidance was appropriate and that they best met the needs of stakeholders.

Following presentations by members of the FRC executive board, a panel discussion was held to discuss future challenges facing governance and stewardship and the need for reform chaired by Tracy Vegro, Executive Director, Strategy and Resources at the FRC.

David Potts, AIA Regulatory Strategy Manager, said: “AIA works hard to ensure our members’ views are represented to our regulators and takes every opportunity to push forward our agenda. Transparency forms a key part of the FRC’s focus in 2018/19 and AIA support this position to ensure audit quality and rigorous corporate reporting.”